Retrofitting rollover protection on tractors saves lives and money

TIMES TELEGRAM STAFF REPORTS

Saturday

Dec 15, 2018 at 1:44 AMDec 15, 2018 at 1:44 AM

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – At least 10 lives and more than $4 million were saved in New York State between 2007 and 2017 thanks to a program designed to increase the retrofitting of rollover protective structures on tractors built before 1985. An analysis of the program’s effectiveness was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The analysis concluded that the intervention model used in New York State, which combined social marketing and a ROPS rebate program, is effective from both a public health and economic standpoint and should be expanded to other states. Lead author Melvin Myers says, "The numbers are compelling and we hope other state governments and industry groups will use this information to develop or expand similar ROPS programs to benefit their agricultural communities."

Linda Forst, a professor in the division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, UIC School of Public Health, and the director of the WHO Collaborating Center in Occupational and Environmental Health, wrote an editorial that appeared in AJPH stating, "the intervention study should serve as a model for implementation research in public health." She added, "As is the case with many public health issues, we know what we have to do…the goal of outfitting more than 80 percent of old tractors with ROPS is attainable and, now, demonstrably cost effective. It is certainly worth the price."

Methodology

In their analysis of the NY program, investigators used results from surveys conducted with ROPS program participants and injury probabilities calculated in previous studies to determine the program’s effectiveness. In addition to preventing fatalities, the ROPS program was responsible for preventing eight disabling injuries and six non-disabling injuries over the 10-year period studied.

The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health, a program of Bassett Healthcare Network based in Cooperstown, launched the ROPS rebate program in 2006 to address the state’s leading cause of farm fatalities, tractor overturns. NYCAMH expanded the program nationally in 2017. To date, 2,510 tractors have been retrofitted with ROPS.

NYCAMH’s program addresses financial barriers through ROPS rebates (New York State provides funding for up to 70 percent of retrofit costs); the program also provides a hotline to assist callers in locating ROPS and delivers messages about the program through print, social media and television featuring the danger to families and the economic burden of a personal disability or fatality on the farm.

ROPS in NYS

Jim Daum of Pine City used the ROPS rebate program several years ago to retrofit his John Deere 3010 with a rollbar. "I tell people if the rollbar hadn’t been on there I’d have been dead twice."

Not long after installing the ROPS, Daum says he experienced an overturn while using the tractor to pull his son’s truck out of the mud; he walked away unscathed thanks to the rollbar. Another time, a piece of equipment broke off the brush hog attached to the tractor and was deflected by the ROPS.

"I would have been dead and the farm would have been dead too. My wife couldn’t take care of the farm and without my income, she would struggle. I tell everyone get a rollbar. You can’t put a dollar value on a life," says Daum.

Retrofit Programs Lacking

Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Minnesota also have ROPS programs in place. Although ROPS installations have increased in states where rebate funding is available, many high-risk states and industry groups have chosen not to contribute state-based or industry funds for ROPS rebates.

The following states had the highest number of overturn fatalities between 2005 and 2014: Iowa (62), Missouri (56), Ohio (45), Illinois (38), Kentucky (37), and Indiana (35). None of these states contributes money to farmers seeking to retrofit through the national program.

Julie Sorensen, director of NYCAMH and the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety, says most states that have not launched a ROPS program have been hindered by a lack of financial capital – even though the initial investment is quite low ($250,000 annually to fund state-based ROPS initiatives).

In NYS, the total ROPS program cost over the 10-year period studied was $1.7 million versus the $6 million in injuries prevented, generating a savings of about $4.24 million. Further, the one-time retrofit costs will continue to prevent injuries and save lives as long as the retrofitted tractors are used.

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